Wednesday, February 6, 2013

Materials

Materials was a short duration course that gave me a basic exposure to different kind of materials. I learnt about the usage, strengths and limits of different materials. We studied about:

·Joinery: Joineries are bonds that hold 2 or more things of the same kind or of different kinds together. We were asked to go out and study different joineries in Nature. We were asked to find 40 joineries but after 15 it was difficult to find more and was later told that only 39 existed in nature. The most interesting joinery that I found was that of a leaf and a stem. The way the stem holds the leaf at an angle of 15 degree, this joinery seems to be very fragile but it doesn't let the leaf fall even in windy conditions. Another thing that I learnt was that adhesives like feviquick or m-seal are just temporary. Towards the end I realized the beauty of joinery, the way the most simple bonds come out to be so strong.

·Straws and Pins: We were asked to experiment with straws and pins and make a bridge that could hold 5 kg of weight. I never thought that a bridge with straw and just pins could hold 5kg's of weight. We made the bridge pillars on the concept of triangles and pyramids and made a mat for the top part by weaving straws. Finally our bridge was ready and it could hold 3 stools but there were a few defaults. The joinery between the pillars and the mat were not too strong, which lead the bridge to almost collapsing.

·Clay: I had used clay earlier but never learned the techniques of using it. During the course I learnt how to beat clay, mould it, smoothen it and the way a layer is added over another. We were asked to make sculptures and I made an insect.

·Plaster Of Paris: (POP): We were taught how to mix pop and then use it to make solid moulds for casting and wax molding. I used a bulb to make my mould and then further casting it. I also learnt about the methods of throwing.

·Wood: One of the strongest materials. We were asked to make different joints with small tiles of wood without using any adhesives. Our joints were based more upon the grooves and the spaces we created.

I learnt a lot about different materials also, about glass, wood, metal, cloth and clay. The different kinds of ways they can be used and their limitations and strengths. We also learnt a lot of facts about different materials and their existence.

Tuesday, February 5, 2013

Monday, February 4, 2013

We were asked to find various joineries in nature and click photographs swell as draw them to study them.

Day2

After studying the joineries I then had a clearer idea of how they work and how they function in our day-to-day life around us.

Our next task was to generate an idea for either a 60 ft. tall 1ft wide structure or a bridge that would hold unto 5kgs of weight with given material plastic straws and olpins.

At first it seemed impossible, however after a few attempts I started getting a structure, I was more keen on the 60ft tall one than the bridge but as the group decision

Was the bridge we out our ideas together and worked together to finalize a plan.

Day3

We started our work on the bridge construction as a group. The plan was basically to make pyramids together as they are the strongest joineries, however the main challenge was the material used to join them- the olpins seemed to weak to hold that kind of weight. We split the work, a few people made the triangle, few made the pyramids few made the surface weaved mat of straws and everyone had their inputs and ideas to go about it.

We needed to make a strong base to hold the matted surface to be able to hold the weight. It took us 9 hours to finally reach our goal, and I was very excited considering I actually believed it would have been almost impossible to do in the first place.

Day4

We proceeded with our materials; we learnt how to use clay, as clay is the most useful base for any structure. I made a round sculpture of clay noodles.

It was my first experience with clay and though I wasn't so good at it, the learning and experience is what I collected which will help me in the future.

First I took a fist full of hard clay and added water to soften it, it was to be thrown on the table and pressed till it stopped sticking and was ready to use.

Tiny bits of clay mixed with water and used to fill the gaps at the back to make the structure strong and prevent breaking. The clay was not to be put in the sun but I did which caused it to break.

Day5

P.O.P.

Plaster of Paris, in school in chemistry there was an entire chapter about how CaSo4 1/2 H2O would become strong and solid after contact with water.

My first hands on experience with plaster of Paris was very interesting, it's a little hard to determine the right amount of water required for the given POP.

Sometimes the water was taken ugh and more POP had to be added to balance or vice versa.

We put together a frame along which we made the base for our POP molds. I used a glass bottle. After pouring half the frame with POP, I put the bottle

And pressed it, in very little time it was already hard. It was left to dry for the day.

Day6

We pushed out our mould objects from the POP mould, mine came out the exact shape, only mistake made was that I didn't press it enough for the shape to come even better. We melted paraffin wax in a pan and put it in out POP molds.

We did that wrong, we filled the entire mold with wax when we were supposed to only use a brush along it. Narendra helped us fix that and showed us how it was done. I had heard about the lost wax process but didn't know what it was, it seemed very interested and something id love to do again.

Mud added for reinforcement of POP so it stays in place.

Day7

The last day of the course was spent exploring the different types of joineries used in construction of objects narendra told us about the various joineries

And we were to try them out on small pieces of plywood using tools- hammer, knife, hacksaw, and adhesive – no nails.

The challenges faced were just too many!

At first getting to use the hacksaw right was very hard but as I discovered that, it got easier, due to lack of number of hacksaws, we used paper cutter, knifes with hammers etc. and to sand it for smoothening- the available rough edges such as tiles, bricks etc.

This was the most fun task of the course; after an entire day spent I finally got it right!